Hilda Wager Bull

Hilda Bull (1886–1953), also known by her married names Hilda Esson and Hilda Dale, was an Australian public health physician and amateur actress and theatre director. She studied medicine at the University of Melbourne and worked as a doctor in London during the First World War, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel in the British medical service. She later spent 23 years working as a medical officer for the Melbourne City Council and became known for her work in combatting infectious diseases. During her tenure, thousands of inoculations were delivered and the number of annual deaths from diphtheria fell from 14 to zero. She later expanded her work to addressing other communicable diseases and achieved worldwide recognition for her research into poliomyelitis.

Hilda was the wife of the playwright and author Louis Esson and assisted in researching and drafting many of his plays. She was a founding member of the Melbourne University Dramatic Society and acted in a number of plays performed by the Pioneer Players, an amateur theatre company founded by her husband. She later became involved in the New Theatre and directed 15 of their productions. She was actively involved in Australian literary circles throughout her life, including through her close lifelong friendship with the author Katharine Susannah Prichard.

Hilda eventually separated from Louis and entered a relationship with John Dale, the chief medical officer at the Melbourne City Council. They retired in 1950 and married in 1951 before moving to The Hague. In 1952, a car accident in Italy killed John and seriously injured Hilda. She eventually recovered from her injuries and moved back to Melbourne, but died six months later on 29 June 1953.

Early life and education

Hilda Wager Bull was born into a wealthy family in Waverley, a suburb of Sydney, on 2 July 1886. Hilda's father Thomas Bull, who worked as a herbalist, was determined that all of his children would become doctors. Her mother Kate Marina Harris was a former teacher with high expectations of her children. The family moved from Sydney to the Melbourne suburb of Armadale when Hilda was a child, and then to the suburb of Ormond. She developed a close friendship with two of her fellow students at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Nettie Palmer ( Higgins) and Christian Jollie Smith, as well as with her neighbour Katharine Susannah Prichard. While she eventually had a falling out with Smith, her close friendships and correspondence with Prichard and Palmer would endure throughout their lives.

After graduating from the Presbyterian Ladies' College in 1906, Hilda enrolled to study medicine at Melbourne University.

Career

Soon after Hilda's graduation and her marriage to Louis, the couple moved to Emerald. Hilda assisted in transcribing Louis' poetry, while Louis occupied himself by writing occasional pieces for The Bulletin. After Louis' efforts to enlist to fight in the First World War were refused on medical grounds, the couple moved to New York in late 1916. She served as the medical officer in charge of a drafting depot and was eventually appointed the medical superintendent for the district of London.

In 1923 the couple moved to Mallacoota in frustration at the problems that the Pioneer Players were facing. They spent their time there camping and exploring the bush.

Public health career

In mid-1927, Hilda applied for a job as an Assistant Medical Officer with the Melbourne City Council. She was interviewed by the Melbourne City Council's Medical Officer of Health, John Dale. Hilda was appointed to the position alongside Hilda Kincaid and was tasked with leading a campaign against diphtheria, which was among the most common causes of infant death in Melbourne at the time. Hilda quickly fell in love with Dale, although neither of them were willing to leave their spouses to pursue their mutual attraction. Hilda balanced her new career with assisting Louis in his research for his plays. Louis had found some work as theatre critic for the New Triad between 1924 and 1927, but experienced health issues and began to struggle to advance in his career as a playwright by the late 1920s. In addition to her work at the council against infectious diseases, from around 1941 Hilda operated a psychiatric clinic for mothers and children in Carlton. She was also an active participant in the public health debates of her day. She advocated for better child nutrition, opposed the legalisation of euthanasia, called for action against tuberculosis amid a rise in the number of children being born to mothers suffering from the disease, and advocated for birth control.

Hilda's relationship with John became more public by the early 1930s, with the pair attending occasional events as a couple while Louis remained ill and reclusive. Hilda also became more active in left-wing politics. Hilda was committed to left-wing political ideas and causes, including the theory of social credit. She became involved in the New Theatre, a radical amateur theatre company, where she performed in a number of plays and directed 15 productions. She favoured realism and an ensemble approach, and founded a journal called The New Theatre Review that published articles on theatre technique alongside discussions of social and political issues. In 1939, Louis made the decision to move to Sydney, marking a more formal end to his relationship with Hilda, who continued to visit him a few times each year. On 27 November 1943, Louis died in Sydney.

Later life

Hilda continued to direct a number of successful plays for the New Theatre, dedicating herself to her work after Louis' death. But her health soon began to decline and she eventually realised that she was suffering from some form of cancer. She underwent surgery in late 1948 and retired from the New Theatre. That same year, she finally moved in with John Dale as he moved to finalise his divorce from his wife. Hilda retired from her position at the council as Medical Officer for Communicable Disease Control on 23 November 1950 after 23 years of service, with her work having expanded from diphtheria prevention to include combatting other communicable diseases including measles, whooping cough, scarlet fever and poliomyelitis.

After John joined her in retirement at the end of 1950, he was offered a position in The Hague as a medical assessor for those intending to migrate to Australia. As they prepared to make their move to the Hague, John's divorce was finalised in February 1951; he and Hilda married on 7 March and departed for Europe in early May. In 1952, they decided that they would take a holiday from the Hague and would travel by car through London, France and Italy. On 26 September, their car overturned near Verona, killing John and seriously injuring Hilda.

After three months in an Italian hospital and a month being cared for by her friend Catherine Duncan in Paris, Hilda recovered from her injuries. She returned to Melbourne, where she grieved John's death and occupied herself with the education of her infant granddaughter. She lived for another six months, before dying in Melbourne on 2 June 1953. Some contemporary newspapers reported that she had never fully recovered from injuries sustained in the car crash, while other sources give cancer as her cause of death. In 2016, Hilda was one of six women commemorated on a plaque recognising the service of Australian women doctors during the First World War.